A day in the life
by LadyTwist
Summary: Finally complete! Although, there may be a sequel not quite sure yet Pages from the book of Fujin's life.
1. Spirits and Trees

I don't own the characters from FF8, please don't sue. I don't own the locations either. Comments welcome, but please try to be constructive. (It is a work in progress, after all.)

**

* * *

**

**Spirits and Trees**

Fujin was 9 when the spirits came to her. She was up in her tree house, snoozing in the sunlight, when the first one whispered her name. She opened her eyes and looked around, expecting to see her cousin, Raijin, ducking down and laughing. "Raijin, go away. I already told you to leave me alone." There was no response, so she closed her eyes again and went back to her daydreams.

She heard her name again, a little louder, and it wasn't Raijin's voice. "Whoever's there, go 'way." Then her name was whispered right into her left ear. Fujin jumped up and whirled around. "Who's there?" she demanded, certain that someone was playing games with her. She stalked around the edge of the platform, looking down to see if **anyone** was there – no one was. Fujin was alone in the back yard. _"Must've been a dream,"_ she thought. Then she turned around…

The … well … **thing** that she saw was **HUGE** and looked like a balloon animal gone wrong. "AAHHH! What **ARE **you?"

She felt the creature chuckling, and a slight breeze ruffled her dark hair. _**"A friend. Or at least I will be …"**_ Fujin didn't like the spirit's tone of voice (it reminded her of her mother's 'but this is good for you' talks) and started moving towards the hatch of the tree house. _**"Child, wait…"**_ the spirit started, but Fujin panicked and jumped through the hatch

She missed the first rung of the latter and fell all the way down, connecting with several branches. Mercifully, she was unconscious when the ground came up to meet her …


	2. Freaks and Idiots

I don't own the characters from FF8, please don't sue. I don't own the locations either. Comments welcome, but please try to be constructive. (It is a work in progress, after all.)

**

* * *

**

****

**Freaks and Idiots**

At the age of 10, Fujin finally admitted to herself that she would be a freak forever. And all because of the stupid tree house. If she hadn't fallen, she would still have both eyes and her voice, not to mention quite a few less scars…

She sat on the porch, playing cards with Raijin. At least her cousin was still willing to be seen with her. He wasn't the brightest person she knew, but she was lonely, and at least he didn't call her a freak even though she was one. He even acted as her bodyguard, a role that Fujin thought he enjoyed a little too much.

She let Raijin win because it was easier than paying attention. Her eye kept wandering to the tree house, until a hand was waved in her face. "Fuj, what's wrong?" Raijin asked, looking at her, then across the yard, then back to her.

"TREEHOUSE" she croaked, still not looking at him. Speech was still painful, even after a year and several surgeries.

"You wanna go play cards in the tree house?" Raijin was totally shocked. She hadn't been in the tree house since the day she fell from it.

Fujin kicked him as hard as she could. "IDIOT!" she snapped. "SPIRITS"

At that word, Raijin stopped howling and looked at his tiny cousin, shivering in the sun. He knew she sometimes said she saw things, but… "You saying the tree house is haunted?"

"NO…" She wrapped her arms around her chest. "THINGS … NOT PEOPLE …"

Raijin moved to stand behind her. He didn't touch her, having learned that was a bad idea. "If it's not haunted, why don't we just tear it down, y'know?"

For once, Fujin agreed with Raijin's plan of destruction. Nodding once, she consigned the fate of her one-time sanctuary to the hands of her cousin. Being as big as an ox, Raijin had the tree house down in no time (which got them both lectured about safety). But the uneasy feeling in her stomach remained …


	3. A Witch Alone

I don't own the characters from FF8, please don't sue. I don't own the locations either. Comments welcome, but please try to be constructive. (It is a work in progress, after all.)

**

* * *

**

****

**A Witch Alone**

Two weeks before her 11th birthday, Fujin sat at the kitchen table, watching her parents rant – at her, at each other, at the ceiling – over her attitude and "imagination".

"A witch!" her mother yelled to the ceiling. "They think my daughter is a witch! And why do they think this?" She turned to the man sitting next to her with his face in his hands. "Because she **TOLD** them so!"

Her father raised his head and looked at Fujin steadily. "Why do you do this? The kids think you're a witch because that's what you told them. The adults think you're a menace. Doesn't this bother you at all?"

Fujin stood slowly, looking at her parents. The just didn't get it … She tried to keep the tears back as she forced out the words "ALONE … FREAK!" before she ran out of the room. If only Raijin hadn't left her alone here! **Nobody** had bothered her with him around. And the spirits were no help – she could hear them and see them when no one else could, so she looked crazy staring at "nothing" all the time. At least she had figured out she didn't have to talk out loud to them, since most of the spirits ignored her anyway.

She sat in her room, trying not to think of what her parents must be discussing. Yanking off her eye patch, Fujin rubbed her hands over her face and then got up and walked over to her dresser. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't understand how her parents could stand to look at her.

The fall from the tree two years ago had taken her eye and her voice and left her with scars across not only her fact but also her entire body. Her hair had gone gray shortly after that due to the trauma on her system. Put all that with the red eyes she'd had since birth, she was a freak. There was no other word.

A soft knock on her door caused Fujin to turn. Wanting to be alone, she still heard her voice croak out, "COME."

Her father came in. "Can I sit?" She nodded towards her bed, but remained standing. He sat down, clearly uncomfortable. "Hon, you're clearly not happy here. But the only other choice is for you to go away to school somewhere else. Your mother doesn't think you can handle it, because no one else would be there to support you." He paused for a moment and ran his hands through his hair.

Fujin turned away, unable to breathe. They wanted to send her away? Oh, Hyne, she really **HAD** gone too far this time! She really **WAS** a freak! Then she felt her father's hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw tears in his eyes.

"Fu, it's your choice, baby. We don't want you to go, but we can't stand by and watch you suffer and alienate yourself." He took a deep breath. "It's your call, hon. It's up to you. If you want to go, we'll find someplace you like. If you want to stay, tell us how we can help?"

Starting to cry, Fujin hugged her father tightly. She couldn't stay here – these people had been afraid of her since she told the first person about the spirits she saw, they would never accept her in any way. Between sobs, she told her father "LEAVE … MUST … SOON"


	4. End of the Search

I don't own the characters from FF8, please don't sue. I don't own the locations either. Comments welcome, but please try to be constructive. (It is a work in progress, after all.)

**

* * *

**

****

**End of a Search**

It took a little more than a year to find the right school. Fujin vetoed many for the way they looked at her – either they acted like she was stupid and dangerous, a wounded chicobo,or they just plain would not look at or talk to her. Until Balamb Garden.

She was checking military schools, because she had heard that Raijin got sent to one. But the Headmaster here was different. When the introductions were made, he shook her hand and looked at her, obviously a little puzzled. "Can I ask what happened to you, Fujin, and when? If you don't mind telling, of course."

"TWO YEARS" she sighed, having been asked many, many times before. "TREE"

"Oh my! A tree fell on you? Well you're quite lucky to be here at all!"

Fujin snorted. "ON NOT. OFF" She could barely keep from laughing.

The Headmaster scratched his head, looking even more puzzled. "A tree fell off you? Well that doesn't make any … Oh! You fell off the tree! Now I get it." He chuckled. "Well, I guess I look pretty silly now, huh?"

Headmaster Cid gave them a tour of the school, saying that no one would notice if his paperwork was a little more behind than usual. He explained a little about the classes offered, and even introduced some of the instructors who were not teaching at the moment.

When they got home, Fujin and her parents talked about the school, the instructors, the classes … everything. She listened to them talk it all out, then stood up and announced "GOOD. YES GO" Of course, her mother hated the idea of military school, but Fujin would not change her mind on this. This was what she wanted – a fresh start. The people she had met seemed decent enough, and this school taught about magic – maybe they knew about the spirits and could tell her why she could see them when no one else could …


	5. Lessons and Losers

I don't own anything except the 2 instructors. (And only because they're based on my dad G ) It's not worth it to sue, unless you want my cat…

**Lessons and Losers**

It wasn't as easy as Fujin had thought it would be. Because of her appearance, she was still an outcast. And it took quite a while to get her instructors to remember her problem with talking. Except for her weapons and hand-to-hand instructors …

Instructor Skye began the weapons class by testing each student in various ways to see what weapons would suit them. Fujin **really** wanted to work with swords, but according to the tests, she would do better with range weapons.

Hand to hand was her favorite. Instructor Snow didn't believe in fighting fair, and told them so first class. "If you are the last one standing, you win. Real fights are **never** fair." There was little talking in that class, just lots of exercise and thinking, which was why she loved it.

Fujin excelled in those classes, as well as one other – magic. The class wasn't on actually using magic, as none of the students had that ability yet. But the class **did** give a name to the spirits – Guardian Forces. (Or at least that's what she thought they were, based on pictures and info she saw in the book.) She decided to learn everything she could about these amazing creatures!

After classes, she went to the library and found a couple of books on GF's and went to the Quad to scan them. That was when the trouble started.

Minding her own business, sitting in the sun and reading, Fujin suddenly found herself lifted and squeezed. Growling, she kicked back as hard as she could and slammed her head back into what she hoped was the attacker's face. He howled and dropped her. She hit the ground and spun, hands up to strike.

"Geez, Fuj! You trying to kill me?" Raijin stood before her, both hands over his bleeding nose. "I thought you'd be happy to see me, y'know?"

Fujin snorted. "IDIOT" then gave him a brief hug. She released him, a little embarrassed, and turned to pick up her books. Looking over her shoulder at her cousin, she waved her hand. "COME"

Raijin followed her out of the Quad to the Infirmary. Dr Kadowaki looked at the two of them, saw all the blood, and went into action, getting the story while making the nosebleed stop. They both got a lecture on being stupid (Raijin's nose was broken) and sent on their way.

Since neither of them had any more classes that day, they decided to get some food. Fujin listened as her cousin talked non-stop wile eating. She felt she should apologize for breaking his nose, but he didn't seem to notice that she hadn't. So she just sat, listening to him talk and smiling, glad to see a familiar face.

"So, Raijin," a male voice interrupted. "I heard you got flattened. Looks like I heard right. Who decided to smear your nose around?" Raijin looked up, then hung his head and mumbled.

Fujin glared at the young man who had come up to their table. Tall, blonde, and a little skinny, he wasn't much older than her or Raijin. So why was her over muscled cousin intimidated by him?

The blonde sneered. "You got it from this little weirdo? What is wrong with you, man? Going soft on me?" He sat down opposite the pair. "What's she got on you that I didn't know about?"

"It's cool, Seifer," Raijin blushed. "She's my cousin. I guess I just scared her, y'know? Oh, Fuj, this is Seifer, a pal of mine. Seifer, Fujin."

Seifer looked more closely at Fujin, apparently sizing her up. "Well, nice to know not everyone is afraid of my right-hand man here. Don't know if I like you doing that much damage to him, though… Bad for the rep…"

Fujin dismissed Seifer and his "rep" with a snort and turned back to Raijin, who was staring at the rest of his meal "EAT" she told him, and went back to her own meal until Seifer interrupted again.

"You sure you guys are related? I mean, you **OBVIOUSLY** don't look anything alike, you sure don't **act** alike. Besides, why would you do **that**," pointing to Raijin's nose," to your family?"

Very calmly, Fujin stood up and gave a cold stare down her nose to Seifer. "IDIOT" she snarled at him. "RUDE!" and stalked off.


	6. Heartache and Hero

I own nothing. Unless you count my cat. (Square owns the characters, I just play with them EG )

**Heartache and Savior**

Fujin sat on the railing in the 'secret' part of the training center, tears burning her eye. She shouldn't have been there – or even known it existed – but she had heard an upper classman talking about it and today she had reason to seek it out.

Legs hanging over the edge into open space, thoughts ran through her mind of jumping, or even just falling off. No one would miss her – she had no **real** friends after a year, and Raijin had his nose so far up Seifer's ass he probably wouldn't even notice she was gone.

_"Happy birthday, freak-girl,"_ she thought miserably. Her parents had been coming to Garden when their train was derailed and they were killed. When the Headmaster broke the news to her, her brain just shut down and she passed out.

Waking in the Infirmary later, she managed to sneak out while the doctor was tending someone else and run to the training center. She thought maybe she could find the T-Rexaur that was supposed to be there and just let him eat her. Then she saw the door to the 'secret' area and went in to collect her thoughts before being eaten.

"**HURTS!**" she screamed at the heavens, then gave in to the tears. Gripping the railing to either side, she knew all she had to do was lean far enough. From here, she figured death would be a sure thing. Then the pain and loneliness would be over.

Just a little more, and gravity would kick in and do the job.

Just a little further . . .

A noise behind her intruded on her thoughts. She panicked for a moment when she really **did** start to fall. Then, from nowhere, hands were pulling her back from the rail to the floor, arms holding her while she collapsed into near-hysterics. Her savior held her tightly, stroking her hair, not saying a word while she cried until there were no more tears left.

Fujin had no idea how long she sat there, unable to move or speak, with too much pain in her heart to live and too much fear in her soul to die. She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Then she finally looked up, into the face of the person who had pulled her back from the edge. "You," she whispered, stunned.

Blue-gray eyes looked at her sadly as he gently brushed the hair from her face. He didn't say a word, just pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her again. They stayed like that until Seifer had to move because his leg had gone to sleep.

The silver-haired girl watched as Seifer stretched his legs and stood slowly. When he turned and offered her a hand up, she didn't take it. As badly as her throat her, she still had to ask, "FOUND. HOW?"

Since she hadn't made any move to get up, he sat back down. "Raijin and I have been looking for you for a while now. He uh … I know what happened, Fujin." She turned her face away and wrapped her arms around herself. He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we couldn't let you deal with this alone. 'Cause you're not, y'know?" She turned to him with such pain on her face he couldn't talk for a minute. He squeezed her shoulder. "You're part of my posse. We're here for you."

Fujin had to think about that one – somebody **being** there for her … She liked the thought, of course, but was this for real? Raijin – well, he'd **always** been there, even if it hadn't been so obvious for quite a while now. Seifer – she just wasn't sure. "WHY? SAVED?" she asked him.

He looked a little uncomfortable. "Why'd I save you? Well, um … I just …" He took a deep breath. "Okay, I thought maybe you'd be in here, since we've checked just about everyplace else. Raijin even tore apart the library, after saying it would probably give him hives." Seifer chuckled. "But yeah, anyway, I came in here 'cause maybe you needed to blow off steam and massacre some monsters or something. I heard you yell, and here I am. Didn't wanna see you jump – it'd be a waste! I mean, you're really good, Fujin. I want you on my side. Raijin's a good backup guy, don't get me wrong – big as he is, I **know** he's got my back. But you, you're smart **and** a good fighter. I like people who can think for themselves and aren't afraid to say so, unlike Rai, y'know?" They both smiled. "'Sides, he'd kick my ass if he thought I'd let you jump."

Seifer's 'speech' was probably more than he had said to her since they'd met. Fujin threw herself at Seifer and hugged him, grateful that it had been him that found her and not Raijin. Her cousin probably would have said things that made it worse while **thinking** he was fixing things. She felt Seifer's arm come up around her and looked up at him with a weak smile. "POSSE" she asked, smiling a little more when he nodded. She put her head on his shoulder.

"THANK."


	7. An Old Friend and a New Plan

I own nothing except an opinionated cat. Oh, and Instructor Snow. _(YUMMY! Someday I'll get that drawing of him done…)_ Square owns the other characters in this chapter.

**An Old Friend and a New Plan**

Fujin went to the cafeteria for a cup of tea and a break. She'd spent the entire morning sorting through the things she'd kept after her parents' deaths. She'd learned a lot (_her father was a soldier once?)_ and cried more. She'd also found something she wanted to ask an instructor about…

She got her tea and sat down, pulling the brass coin out and turning it over in her hands. The image on one side was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't read the writing on the other side. She hoped Instructor Snow would be in his office. She liked dealing with him because he made an effort to understand her so she didn't have to repeat herself a half dozen times.

The sign on his door said he was tutoring down in the gym. _"Looks like I'll have to go watch and wait to talk to him. What a shame,"_ Fujin smiled to herself. Watching him work was a treat – not only was he grace personified, but to her he was strikingly beautiful as well.

She ran into Seifer and Raijin in the hall. "Bug hunt, y'know… wanna come with us?" her cousin asked her. Seifer smiled and nodded, but Fujin shook her head.

"NEGATIVE" she told the young men. "SNOW. TALK"

"Ahh.." Seifer nodded knowingly. "Gonna go drool over the midget some more, huh?" he teased.

Blushing furiously, Fujin's repsonse through clenched teeth was "RAGE" and a really **hard** kick to Seifer's shin.

Knowing that was his **last** warning, the blonde backed off a little. "Okay, okay. I don't know anything, okay?" He leaned down and rubbed his shin. "But you have to admit, Fuj, he is **awful** short. I mean, what, he's not even up to my shoulders?"

She shot Seifer an evil look and smiled. Seifer ducked behind Raijin, laughing. "Alright, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kick me again!" he pleaded, while still laughing. Raijin started laughing, too, so Fujin just walked away, dismissing them both with a wave of her hand. Maybe the 'bug hunt' would settle them down…

Entering the far side of the gym, away from the sparring mats, Fujin watched Instructor Snow working with a young man who was nearly as good as the teacher. She was mesmerized by the moves, almost like watching dancers, until the student wound up flat on his back suddenly. He stood slowly, shaking his head a little, then the two men bowed to each other and the match was over.

Fujin approached slowly, not wanting to interrupt their discussion. "Guard your ribs more, Dincht," Snow shook his head at the young man. "And for Hyne's sake, **stop** pulling your punches. I wouldn't be doing this if I couldn't take it. And if you don't learn to follow through, you're gonna get killed."

The young man bowed to the instructor again and turned to leave, smiling at Fujin as he walked past. She smiled back, a little confused, and then turned to her teacher. "DINCHT?" she asked him, hoping he'd give at least a little more information without revealing her interest.

"Yeah, Zell's one of my better students, if he can keep himself in check." Snow chuckled to himself, then turned to her. "You decide you need tutoring? You're not dressed for it."

"TALK" she said, shaking her head. "TIME?"

"Sure, I got a half hour. What did you need to talk about?"

She followed him over to the bench and pulled out the coin, watching his face as she handed it to him. He quickly covered a flash of surprise, and then he looked at her. "Where did you get this?"

"FATHER"

"Do you know what this is?" He held it up by the edges, like it was fragile. "This is a Guardian Force, Fujin. A captured one, which should just **never** happen…Where did your father get this? Was he military?" Fujin nodded. "Yeah, thought so. Only the military captured them like this. You should let it go. They tend to go a little nuts all alone like this." Snow handed the coin back to her.

Fujin took the coin back, shocked that her father kept a GF prisoner for at least 14 years. This had to be fixed. She stood and bowed to her instructor. "THANKS" Then she turned to go.

"Fujin," he stopped her. "I wouldn't tell anyone about this. They might try to talk you into giving it over." She turned and bowed again, then left.

She went to the Quad to think. She kept turning the coin over in her hand, trying to figure out where she could find information on freeing a GF without bonding with it. All the books she'd seen in the library didn't cover this. And she couldn't exactly ask without having to explain why she wanted to know. _'What am I going to do with you? What if you're crazy after 14 years of isolation?'_

_**"Only 5 years, child,"**_ she head a voice. Looking around to see if anyone else had heard it, she turned her attention back to the coin.

"YOU?" she whispered hoarsely.

**_"Yes, but you don't have to speak, just think,"_** the voice answered. It sounded amused by her surprise.

_'So, what do I have to do to free you?'_ she thought carefully, mentally pronouncing ever word.

Now the voice was clearly chuckling. **_"Just think like normal. You'll figure it out."_**

_'I don't **want** to get used to it! I'll go nuts!'_ she thought, slightly panicked. _'No, I already **went** nuts – now I'm talking to myself!'_ She pushed herself up to go see if Seifer and Raijin were back yet. If they didn't notice anything strange about her, maybe she wasn't nuts…

She found them just coming in the front gate, talking about the monsters they'd killed. And they'd had time to develop a new entertainment – Seifer liked to call it a "disciplinary committee". "See, we let them all think it's all official **and** that we're keeping a list. Different things can get you on 'the list'. We don't have to worry about how to tell anyone to get off 'the list' – they'll be too busy sucking up!" Seifer grinned evilly.

"Yeah!" Raijin chimed up. "Make 'em sweat, y'know? Whatcha think, Fuj?"

Fujin thought for a moment of everyone that had snubbed her or said things about her looks or her speech. Then she smiled, looking every bit as evil as some people thought she could be. "GOOD" she nodded. "COMMITTEE"


	8. Wishes on the Wind

Sorry this one took so long. Nobody wanted to cooperate with me. :Þ I don't own most of the characters, just Instructor Snow. Square owns all the others. And since I've never explained before, _thoughts are in italics_, _**GF's voice is bold italics**_. Everything else should be pretty straightforward.

* * *

**Wishes on the Wind**

Fujin stood on the cliff side, enjoying the breeze coming in from the ocean. Yes, this was the perfect place. Taking the coin from her pocket, she spent a moment in thought. She knew she **should** free the GF inside, but was afraid of what it might do. She also didn't want to destroy something that had been her father's. _'I'm sorry, papa. But I have to do this. Forgive me?'_

Instructor Snow had told her the coin had to be broken cleanly. If it was shattered, the GF would be destroyed. He hadn't been able to find any way to permanently draw the Guardian, so she had decided to break the coin immediately. Feeling responsible, Snow went as her backup, since Fujin had been insistent that **she** handle this. He just hoped it wasn't more than **he** could handle.

Looking at the coin one last time after checking her weapon, Fujin thought to the GF _'I hope this doesn't hurt.'_

**_"I'll be fine, child,"_** was the response. **_"I know you can do this. It's time."_**

She took a deep breath and nodded to the teacher. Handing him the coin, she stepped back about 10 feet, closed her eye for a moment, then readied herself and nodded again.

Snow hesitated a moment, unsure of what they were unleashing. Fujin yelled "DO IT", and with a heavy sigh and a wish, Snow threw the coin straight up.

Taking quick aim at the small glittering target, Fujin unleashed her chakram. It hit the coin, dead center, and the world blew apart in the roar of a tornado …

Suddenly blinded by the dirt and rocks that were flung around, Snow tried desperately to see Fujin. _'Hyne, what have we done? Where is_ _she?'_ There was still too much debris in the air, and the wind was picking up speed. "Kazeno!" he yelled, "Where **are** you!" He forced his way through the torrent to where he last saw her. There was no sign of the silver-haired girl that he could find … **"FUJIN!"**

Fujin felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. _'I … I'm dead?'_ She was surprised. She had expected not to **know** when she was dead; she wasn't ready for an eternity of nothing.

A chuckle in her mind. **_"Child, you're not dead. You're with me for a moment."_**

_'Not dead? Then where?' _

_**"Between your world and mine."** _

_'And you are … ?'_ she still couldn't see or feel anything.

The name came on a sigh of wind. **_"Pandemona."_** Then her vision cleared a little to show this 'Pandemona'. "YOU!" The thing she saw was the 'spirit' that had scared her out of the tree. This … this **thing** was responsible for her life going to hell! "WHY?" she demanded of the newly freed GF.

**_"My intention was never to harm you. I was curious, child. I wanted to meet you."_**

"NOT!" she screamed, cutting it off. "NEVER AGAIN!"

**_"I had to meet you. I did not know your father hadn't told you about me I never would have spoken to you if I had known. I was supposed to protect you when you got older, never to hurt you."_**

Ignoring the despair in the GF's 'voice', Fujin pulled her own emotions back under control. _'I've got to get out of here,'_ she thought. _'But how?'_ She tried focusing on the cliff she'd been standing on, the smell of the ocean, the warmth of the sun, the look of doubt on Instructor Snow's face … "SNOW?" she asked the wind GF.

After a long moment, the answer came on a whisper. **_"He's fine. He's still in your world."_**

**"BACK"** she demanded, and suddenly found herself dropped onto the rocky ground. She glanced around, feeling panicked, and collapsed as the wind died.

When Fujin's slight form appeared out of the air, right behind Snow, he almost attacked. He checked his actions at the last second and caught her as she fell over. **"Kazeno!"** He quickly checked her pulse and breathing, both of which were uneven. "Sorry, kid, but we gotta get outta here," he told the still figure as he threw her over his shoulders and headed back to Garden.

Encountering nothing on the way back, he ran straight to the infirmary and yelled for Dr. Kadowaki. "She's not here," Zell said, coming out of the supply room. Looking at the teacher and the unconscious girl, he pointed to one of the beds and went into action. "Bandages, potions … What happened?"

"Long story," Snow told the young man. "I'll tell you once she's stable." He laid her on the bed and checked her over for any injuries. Finding no blood or spots that caused any reaction indicating pain, he stepped back as Zell administered the potion.

Zell sat on the bed, and sat the unconscious young girl up so she was leaning against his shoulder. He got the potion in to her, one tiny sip at a time, and laid her back down when she began breathing deeper. She still hadn't woken up, but he thought she seemed more comfortable, more like she was just asleep. So he stood and turned to Instructor Snow. "Your turn. I'll page the doctor to come look at her, but for now that's all **I** can do."

Snow looked down at himself, covered with dirt, cuts and bruises from the windstorm tossing everything around. With a weak laugh, he told Zell, "Nothing here I can't fix with a hot shower and a lot of salve."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Page the doctor, so I can tell her what happened, would you please?" He followed Zell out to the main part of the office. After the doctor was paged, Snow asked Zell about the tattoo, which was new enough to still be a little red around the edges. "I know SeeD doesn't mind what you do, but your **face**? And why such a **big** tattoo?"

Hanging his head a little, the young man sighed. "I know, it was dumb. My ma's having fits over it!" He smiled and looked up. "It's supposed to give me focus. Ma says all it does is show everyone how focused I am on being stubborn." A self-mocking laugh escaped him. "Maybe she's right …"

Snow chuckled and looked at his student. "We'll have to find out in your next training session."

Their conversation was interrupted when the doctor arrived. "So, what happened? Who needs help?" All business right from the start. She looked at Snow. "What did you **do**, fall off a mountain?"

"I'm fine, doctor." He shook his head. "I brought Kazeno in, **she** needs help." He followed the doctor in to where the young girl lay, still senseless, and stood off to the side. As the doctor examined Fujin, he explained what happened. Dr. Kadowaki glared at him several times, but said nothing until she was finished with the examination and had shoved him out of the room.

Closing the door, she whirled on the teacher, anger flashing in her eyes. "Are you a complete **moron**?" she asked coldly. "You and that child **both** could have been killed! Did that never occur to you? And where is this … this **thing**, this GF … where is it now? What if it's taken her over? What if it fried her mind? You do know, don't you, that she may **never** wake up? And **you**," she nailed him in the chest with her finger. "You went out to help her free a potentially dangerous GF **without** backup and **without** a GF of your own? **Idiot!**" She slapped him, hard enough to make his eyes water.

Zell went in to check on the girl. He heard Instructor Snow's cold reply as he closed the door. "Yes, Doctor, I did. If I hadn't gone right then, she would have gone out alone." Zell admired the man's control – he never raised his voice, even though most people would have yelled right back.

Grabbing down a cloth and wetting it in the sink, Zell wrung it out and turned back to the bed. He gently removed her eye patch, wincing a little at the scars crossing her face, and wiped her face with the cloth. "I hope you're okay in there," he said softly, replacing the patch and folding the cloth across her forehead. "Dr. Kadowaki might kill Instructor Snow if you're not."

He thought she'd smiled a little, so he sat by the bed and kept talking. "Gotta tell ya, that was really pretty noble, freeing a GF like that? I never knew they could be captured. I'm sure it didn't mean to shut you down like this." He reached over and brushed her hair out of her face, and she did smile a little this time.

Fujin felt someone's hand across her face. Opening her eye slowly, she squinted to focus on the young man looking at her, concern written plainly on his face. She tried to ask what happened, where she was, but no sound came out. Then all her thoughts snapped into focus. "SNOW" she demanded, sitting straight up and trying to ignore the dizziness that hit her in a wave.

Zell gently tried to push her back down. "He'll be fine, once he's done arguing with the doctor. You're in the infirmary. You freed a GF and got knocked out?"

He sounded impressed. Fujin lay back down, which helped ease the dizzy spell. So, she **did** survive it. So had Instructor Snow. But what had happed to the GF? Was it Pandora it said its name was?

_**"Yes, child. Pandora. You freed me. I am here when you need me. For now, just rest."**_ The voice was soothing, and Fujin was too tired to argue. She smiled and closed her eyes. She could feel Zell wiping her face off again and was almost asleep when Seifer barged in with Raijin.

"Fujin! What happened? You alright?" He shoved her caretaker out of the way just as Fujin opened her eye. "We heard you were **carried** in! Are you okay? Why didn't you tell us you were going somewhere? "

She knew he was worried, but right now, he was just **too** noisy. "LATER" she told him, smiling to soften the harshness of her voice. She smiled at Raijin, too, who was standing in the corner silent and obviously uncomfortable.

Then Dr. Kadowaki came in, grabbing Seifer and Raijin by the arm and hustling them out the door. "She needs rest now. You two need to go!"

Seifer turned to lock eyes with Zell. "You **better** take care of her! Or I'll settle with you later. Got it, wuss?" Then he let the doctor drag him out.

Zell sighed and shook his head, unclenching his fists. "Why you running around with him?" he asked Fujin. "It's not like he's all **that** charming."

Fujin took a deep breath. How could she explain? She owed Seifer her life. He was more than a friend to her and Raijin. But what was he? After a moment's thought, she closed her eyes and smiled. "BROTHER"


	9. Pandora's Box

(insert disclaimer here) I don't own the characters, I'm just playing with them for a while. (Square owns them and everything FF related) Thoughts are in italics, GF speech is italic bold. Everything else I think is pretty obvious...

**

* * *

**

**Pandora's Box**

Fujin daydreamed while Seifer and Raijin discussed Seifer's dream. Somewhere he had read about the Sorceresses having had knights. That was what he wanted, and Raijin thought this was cool except for one small problem – "Hey, boss, how can you be a Sorceress' knight with no Sorceress?"

"Um … I don't have that figured out yet. That's why it's still just a dream. But it'll happen. I just gotta wait." Personally, Fujin thought this dream was pretty silly, but she'd never say that to Seifer. At least he **had** a dream … and an interesting one at that.

Raijin had a dream, too. But his was much more ordinary than Seifer's – he just wanted the sexy wife, maybe a couple kids, nice place, nice car – normal 15-year-old male dreams. Fujin envied her 'brothers' their dreams, however grand or simple. Not being one to feed herself on illusions about her looks or her charms, she had decided just to focus on being a good soldier and that was all.

She **did** have an imagination, though. And right now it was coming up with thoughts of Seifer waving a sword in full plate armor riding an armored chocobo. Not realistic **at all**, but still very entertaining! So Fujin sat there, drinking her coffee, listening to the boys talk, with a smile and a faraway look.

" … ya know. Right, Fuj?" Hearing Raijin say her name snapped her focus back to the table. _"Shit! They're gonna ask me what I was thinking and Seifer won't find it funny. Seifer's smug, Raijin needs backup."_ "AFFIRMATIVE" _"I'll figure it out later …"_

"Ah, you guys." Seifer rolled his eyes. "No romance, I'm telling you. Squall probably has more romance than you, and he hasn't even discovered **girls** yet!" He gestured over his shoulder at a young man eating alone and studying.

**_"Watch that one,"_** Pandora's voice whispered.

_"Him?"_ Fujin snorted. _"He's a mouse. No threat."_

**_"Not to you … but to Seifer …"_**

She dismissed the GF's concern. _"He's a year younger and has no drive. No problem."_

_**"He just hasn't found his inspiration yet."**_ And with that, the GF dropped the conversation.

The Posse finished their lunches and headed out towards the training area for a workout. Zell Dincht was just coming out from what had clearly been a good session for him. Fujin stopped and watched him for a moment as he executed a spectacular back flip – which, unfortunately, sent Raijin sidestepping into Seifer. "HEY!"

"Whoa, sorry. Didn't see you come up. Oh, hey!" he smiled at Fujin. She smiled back and nodded. "Just so you guys know, I think I heard the 'Rex waking up. Watch yourselves in there."

Raijin snorted. "We got it, no problem. After all there's three of us and one of him, ya know?" Fujin nodded in agreement.

But Seifer had to have the last word. "So, the 'Rex is up. We can take him. Little chicken-wusses like **you** need to watch out. Come on, Fuj, Rai, let's go." And he headed through the doors.

Turning to follow Seifer in case the 'Rex was up, Fujin looked over at Zell. His fists were clenched and he was almost shaking with anger. She smiled at him and shrugged, and headed into the pseudo-jungle, Raijin right behind her. _"I hope Seifer didn't notice, or he'll never ease up on him."_

Seifer was waiting on them. "Did I get a rise out of him?"

Raijin nodded. "Yeah, he's pretty pissed. But no big, ya know?"

Fujin didn't reply, but Seifer didn't seem to notice, being quite pleased with himself. The 'Rex was indeed awake. Seifer and Raijin grinned at each other. "Now **here's** a challenge," Seifer said with a wolfish grin and readied his gunblade. Raijin shifted his feet to brace for battle. Fujin was having second thoughts as she readied herself to strike. The 'Rex seemed **really** angry …

**_"Let me do this."_**

_"But Seifer …"_

_**"Will get one of you killed today. Yes or no, child. Will you let me do this?"**_

_"Killed? Yes!"_ "DO IT" she said.

She saw her 'brothers' sweptoff their feet by the monster. **"DO IT!"** she screamed to the GF as the beast turned to Raijin, who still hadn't stood back up. Then her vision went hazy. _"What the hell!"_

_**"Just watch and learn,"**_ Pandora told her. The girl watched as her body seemed to change. She didn't feel any different, but continued to watch as she drew in a breath strong enough to engulf the T Rexaur. She could feel it, confused, angry, rolling inside of her, unable to tell up from down. Then, when it was about to rage and tear apart her insides, she blew it back out, exhaling strongly enough to slam it into the ground. Then she realized her body had returned to its normal state. **_"Now you can handle it,"_** the GF told her.

She shook herself and readied to attack. But Raijin still wasn't up and Seifer was staggering. _"No, we can't. Not now."_ **"SEIFER!** **GO!"** she yelled to him, and ran to try to drag the other young man out of range. The 'Rex still hadn't recovered its full balance yet, but she couldn't budge Raijin. She whirled at something touching her shoulder.

"Watch the 'Rex, I got him," Seifer told her as he wrestled Raijin mostly upright. She turned back to the monster as Seifer headed the other way. The 'Rex seemed to be nearly recovered, so she fired at its eyes. Missing both eyes when the monster turned its head, she still managed to distract it for the split second she needed to make sure the other two were clear. Then she ran for it.

The T Rexaur tried to come after them but could not get around a couple of steel beams, so the Posse made it through the doors. Seifer let Raijin slide to the ground and leaned on the wall. Raijin moaned and opened his eyes. "Hey, wha' happened?"

Seifer sat down on the floor. "Well, **we** got our asses kicked right away. Then Fujin kicked ass." He sounded impressed. "What **was** that thing anyway?"

"PANDORA" she told her confused friends.


	10. BitterSweet 16

Sorry this took so long. And well, when you can't move forward, try taking a step back for another look, right? (Edited to fix a minor issue I found last night. Whoops!)

I own the story, not the characters or the setting. _"DAMN!"_

_

* * *

_

** BitterSweet 16**

Raijin's off-key singing informed everyone in the cafeteria that it was Fujin's birthday. She set down the coffee and buried her face in her hands, trying not to laugh. _"He's such a bad singer! I wonder if the candles in a bagel this year or an omelette like last year?"_

Secretly, Fujin was happy at having her birthday remembered. But she had a reputation to maintain. Raijin knew the game – after all, they'd played it for the last three years. She'd 'forget' his birthday and leave his present in his room; he'd try to embarrass her with some public display. She looked up to glare at Raijin and her jaw dropped.

"Happy Birthday, Fuj!" Raijin yelled, and stepped aside to reveal Seifer holding a **beautiful** birthday cake. All decorated in blues and greens, it was covered with sugared violets. Seifer grinned crookedly. "Okay, it's a little girly. But hey, no huge roses on it." When Fujin just blinked, Seifer's expression changed to one of uncertainty "Raijin okayed it," he said quietly.

After a long moment of silence, Fujin closed her mouth and looked at the other two. "MINE?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yeah!" Raijin beamed. "It is **your** birthday, sweet 16, ya know? Gotta be something special, right?" He took the cake from Seifer and set it on the table. "And no candles. I remember what happened last time."

"That's 'cause eggs make **lousy** candleholders!" Seifer chuckled as he sat down. Looking sheepish, Raijin took the remaining chair. "So," the blonde looked back at Fujin, who was trying not to smile. "Any big plans, since there's no classes today?"

Shaking her head, Fujin cut the cake into three pieces. "NEGATIVE" "_Wow, this is good! Glad it was a small cake or I'd eat myself sick!"_ "REPORT"

Seifer shook his head with a smile. "All work and no play. Fuj, you need to unwind some time. Or are you just going to drool over chicken-boy and his new ink?"

Kicking Seifer under the table, she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. _"It would be so much easier if Seifer didn't despise Zell. No, what would make it easier would be if the airhead in the library did."_

"He ain't good enough for ya, ya know?" Raijin shook his head. "Too much dancin' around that he calls fighting. 'Sides, he's too hyper. Not your type at all. OW!" He broke off as Fujin kicked him** hard** "Hey! It's true, ya know!" Raijin scooted back in his chair to be out of reach of the next kick.

Seifer just leaned back in his chair, finishing off his piece of cake. "Tell ya what, Fuj. You go take care of your 'report' this morning, and after lunch we'll head into town or something. How's that sound?"

Fujin nodded and stood up, leaving the guys to deal with the dishes. "LATER" And she headed to her room to get her notes, taking the 'scenic route' past the gym, which was unoccupied. Retrieving her papers, she went to the library. A couple of people giggled "Happy Birthday" at her, but most of them suddenly found it not-so-funny when she glared at them.

The library was nearly deserted. Fujin scanned the first set of shelves, looking for Centran history for her paper. She had found and was flipping through the first book when she heard a familiar voice at the desk.

"So she's not here at all today?"

"Nope. Sorry, Zell."

"Damn!" There was obvious disappointment in his tone. "Ah, well. I'm at the Infirmary tomorrow, so I'll try some other time."

Fujin closed the book with a heavy sigh. Looking for the next book, she was startled by Zell's voice right behind her. "So, you like your cake?"

Taking a deep breath, Fujin glance skyward before turning, expecting to face a mocking smile. The tattoo made his eager smile look even more crooked, and Fujin couldn't help smiling back. _"He looks kinda puppyish like that."_ "DELICIOUS"

Zell's smile spread to his eyes. "Thought you would. Ma's the best baker in Balamb! She told me Raijin wanted a cake for you. I told her no frou-frou stuff. Glad I was right!"

"TH … THANKS" she stammered, wishing she was good at small talk so he'd stay a while.

He suddenly noticed the books in her hands. "Homework on your birthday? Bummer! Me? I'd do it tomorrow. But I'll let you get back to it." He turned to leave. "Oh," he looked back over his shoulder. "Happy Birthday!" Zell stuck his hands in his pockets and left, whistling quietly.

Watching him walk away for a moment, Fujin shook her head, smile fading. _"Figures. He came in here to talk to her. I'm just an 'oh, hey'. I can't even be interesting for more than a couple of minutes!"_ She sighed and went back to her stack of notes by the computer. Opening the top book, her mind kept going back to Zell. _"Wonder why his face? I mean, of all the places to get a tattoo, why make that one bigger? … No, Focus! Homework now, wonder later."_

**_"Why not ask him?"_** Pandora's voice snuck in to her thoughts.

_"Pan! I thought you didn't eavesdrop!"_

_**"Sorry, but your thoughts on that young man are so loud."**_ The GF sounded more amused than sorry. **_"So, like I said, why not ask why he marked his face?"_**

_"Cause I can't do small talk, that's why."_ Again she tried turning her attention to the pages before her. _"Besides, why make small talk with me when he can chat up a perfect little airhead who's more his type?"_

_**"Ah, child. You humans focus too much on the unimportant. If you talked, he'd listen. You're not uninteresting."**_

_"No? I'm sure I sound it, the way I talk! Now, if you'll butt out, I have work to do."_

_**"Very well. Just don't forget to celebrate some time today. If you'd never been born, we never would have met."**_

_"Good point. Thanks!"_ With the GF quiet and no one else to interrupt, Fujin went back to work on her report.


	11. Distressed Damsel

Thoughts are _"quoted italics"_

GF speech is **_"bold quoted italics"_**

****Everything else is what it is.

I own the story, but not the characters.

**

* * *

**

**D****istressed Damsel**

It was after curfew – all three of them knew this as they sat just outside the Garden entrance splitting the bottle of whiskey that Seifer had bought on his way back from Timber. He was talking about some girl he had met there. And the more he talked, the more Fujin found herself withdrawing from the conversation. Until she heard Raijin ask the question she didn't **want** the answer to. "So, Seifer, the way your talking, did you guys … um … you know?"

She counted five heartbeats before she realized the blonde was chuckling. From the tone, she decided it was safe to breathe again. The answer wouldn't be the one she dreaded hearing. "No, Rai. It's not like that. You don't fuck the 'damsel in distress'. That's just **not** how it works." He grinned and leaned back on the grass. "That's later – **much** later."

_"Okay, why do I even care if he does?"_ Fujin berated herself. _"He's practically my brother – it's not like I'm gonna fuck him!"_

"Well," Raijin said, clearing his throat in embarrassment, "hadda ask, ya know?" He leaned back, trying to be casual. "I mean, sounds like she's hot and everything …"

"Oh, she is that," Seifer confirmed. "But first, she has a revolution to win. After that, well …"

_"Does he even notice I'm still here? Guys don't talk like this in front of girls, right? …Oh, dammit! That means I'm one of the guys now! Damn!"_ With a heavy sigh, Fujin took a drink and passed the bottle.

"What's up, Fuj?" Raijin asked her. "You alright? You've been awful quiet, even for you, you know?"

She shook her head, not wanting to explain. "FINE" she told him. "TIRED"

"So, you two think I should help her with this? I already told her I could get Cid to help." Seifer leaned up on his elbow and looked at his friends. "Wouldn't that be a **great** mission? Helping win a country back?"

"TEST FIRST" Fujin snorted. Not that she doubted he would pass. _"Third time's the charm. Besides, isn't helping 'fair maidens' one step closer to being a knight?"_

"Yeah, I know." Seifer laid back down, and the three of them sat in silence for a while, passing the bottle around several more times. Suddenly, Seifer jumped up. "I gotta find something to **do**. This is too quiet. You guys game?"

Raijin stood slowly and stretched. "Seifer, I got tactics class in the morning, another test. Think I'm gonna head to bed, ya know?"

Rolling his eyes, the blonde turned to Fujin. "How 'bout you? Or are you up past your bedtime too?"

Fujin tried to stand up, then tried again. But the ground kept tilting. _"Shit! Oh, shit!"_ Looking over at him, she started to shake her head, but stopped when that also unbalanced her. "NO" she told him slowly, "DIZZY"

Laughing, Seifer helped her up. "No, Fuj, just drunk. Let's get you to bed. I'll go find trouble on my own tonight."

The two young men helped Fujin to her room, trying to be as quiet as possible. They left her at her door and wandered away. She bit back curses as she bounced off an end table while stumbling to her bed. Flopping down on the bed, she then had to struggle to sit back up. _"Oh, bad idea! Spinning room, laying down – I swear I'll never do this again if I don't puke!"_ Her roommate was still asleep, leaving Fujin alone with her thoughts. But she didn't **want** to be alone.

_"Pandora?"_

_**"Yes, child? What's wrong?"**_ The GF's voice was a cleansing wind, blowing away some of the alcohol-created fog.

_"Why are boys so stupid? And so hung up on sex?"_

The silence went on for a long time. **_"I don't know,"_** was the response. **_"I've worked with men before, but never really bonded with them. And I've never really talked to one. They treat me more like a tool, unlike most of the women I've worked with who treat me more like a companion."_**

_"Oh. Well, that's kind of rude."_

The GF chuckled. **_"People are the way they are, no more, no less. I accept that."_**

_"Okay, if you say so."_ As long as Pandora wasn't bothered, Fujin wasn't either._ "Hey, Pandora?"_

_**"Yes?"**_

_"I think I'm gonna pass out now. G'night."_ She yawned and scooted into the corner, thankful that her bed wasn't in the middle of the room.

_**"Good night, child,"** _the GF told her as she arranged her body and pillows so she could sleep without laying back down.

The alarm went off too early. Fujin was positive she'd only been asleep for a few minutes, just long enough for the room to stop spinning and her head to start pounding. _"Ooh, bad drums. Noisy alarm. Bad!"_ She fell out of bed and swore loudly, trying to kill her alarm clock without opening her eyes. Her roommate, apparently hearing the noise, popped her head in.

"Fujin, you're gonna miss breakfast. Wake up, sleepy!"

_"Too fucking cheerful!"_ Fujin found her clock and blindly threw it in the direction she guessed was the door. "Okay … guess you don't want breakfast." Her roommate closed the door carefully.

_"Breakfast? Ylech! I just want someone to shoot me!"_ Fujin struggled to her feet and looked down at herself, still in yesterday's clothes. _"Shower, clothes, class … which class? … Doesn't matter, it's gonna suck no matter what!"_ She gathered her clothes and headed for the bathroom to clean up.

Raijin was finishing a huge breakfast, the smell of which made Fujin's stomach lurch. She sat down on the opposite side of the table, trying to ignore the food, and drank her water slowly, rubbing her temple with her other hand. "You want some of this?" He offered his plate with a pancake and some sausage on it.

Fujin shook her head quickly and swallowed hard. _"How can he eat that?"_ "NOT HUNGRY" She watched, feeling slightly ill as Raijin proceeded to clean his plate. _"I suppose I should be glad he's not sick, too. I couldn't deal with him whining this morning."_

"Good morning, guys," Seifer's voice was cheery – he clearly wasn't sick either. He set down his coffee and plate, and then sat. Fujin stared at him in shock. _"What? Are those stitches?"_ "FACE?" she asked, unable to voice anything else.

Raijin looked up from the last of his breakfast. "Seifer! What the hell happened? You okay?"

The blonde flashed his wolfish grin, the slash across his face turning it fairly sinister. "Had a small difference of opinion with Leonhart last night. Got a little outta hand, that's all. Relax, Rai," he told the other young man, who was rising from their table with his fists clenched. "He's still in the Infirmary. I handled it."

"If you say so, Seifer," Raijin slowly sat back down, his stormy expression giving way to confusion then resignation. "So, what did you argue over? I mean, this is serious, ya know?"

"Rules and beliefs," Seifer sighed, digging in to his food. "I was drunk, he started in with his 'good little mercenary' spiel, and then we were both bleeding. Don't remember the details." He waved his free hand dismissively. "It's cool. I'm fine, and he will be."

Fujin wasn't sure she could blow it off that easily. _"If he started this to get Seifer expelled, there will be hell to pay, so help me! Pandora was right, he's trouble. Next time, I'll stop him!"_


	12. No Party Here

The story is mine, but everything else belongs to somebody else.

* * *

**No Party Here**

Fujin watched Seifer pace around the room, ranting about "incompetent rookies! No fire! No guts! And no fucking **clue**!" She cringed as Seifer's glass crashed into the wall between her and Raijin. He'd been much more explosive since the "difference of opinion" between him and Squall. They both walked away from that with similar scars, but opposite reactions – Squall got more distant and quiet, Seifer got volatile.

The members of 'the Posse' were almost never seen individually anymore. Fujin had drafted Raijin into protecting Seifer form himself – they acted as a buffer between him and everyone else so he wouldn't launch on some under classman and get bounced from Garden. Now, though, it didn't matter. This was Seifer's third time taking the field exam and failing. There were no more chances to be given. And she was scared to think what he might do now that he'd never be a SeeD.

_"Who do you tell when your best friend is gonna break? And I don't think me and Raijin can hold him together … Headmaster Cid. He needs to know about this …"_ Looking at Seifer sitting with his face in his hands, Fujin looked back to the other man and raised her eyebrows. "WATCH?" she asked him uncertainly.

Raijin nodded once quickly and flashed her a sad smile. "Yeah, I got it. We'll be fine." But as soon as her hand touched the doorknob, Seifer's head snapped up.

"Where ya goin', Fuj?" his voice dripped venom. "Gonna desert me for one of the winners? Maybe the hyper little chickenwuss you used to like?"

She whirled on the blonde, inwardly raging. _"He's drunk and depressed – now is not the time."_ She glared at him for a moment before shaking herself. With a sigh, she told him "WALK" and stepped out into the hallway, leaning on the door for a moment. _"What do I do? This is bad! Oh, hell! Good luck, Rai."_ She headed for the Headmaster's office, unsure of where else to go.

But Cid wasn't in his office. No one had seen him for a couple hours, so they all assumed he was in the ballroom, overseeing last minute preparations for the graduation ball. "After all," Xu told the silver haired young woman, "he does love a good party!" So Fujin headed there, hoping to find the Headmaster soon.

_"Finally!"_ She spotted the Headmaster talking to someone and crossed the room to where he was. She waited not-so-patiently for him to finish, arms folded over her chest. When he turned to go, she stepped in front of him. "TALK. NOW."

"I really don't have time, Miss …" He scratched his head, searching for her name. "…Kazeno. Yes, Miss Kazeno. Is it very important?"

She nodded. "SEIFER. PROBLEM."

"What kind of problem? Can't we handle it tomorrow?"

"NEGATIVE. COME. NOW" When the older man didn't follow, she repeated. "**NOW**"

The older man looked at her, shaking his head. "Miss Kazeno. Fujin. I really can't. This is just going to have to wait. I'm sure Seifer will be fine, once he gets over being angry. He didn't pass, but there are still things he can do here. I'm sorry."

Fujin snorted and glared at him. "FUCK!" she snapped and stalked out of the room, leaving several people slack-jawed from her explosion. _"Okay, that went to hell quickly. What now?"_ She went back to Seifer's room, hoping she and Raijin could manage. _"Maybe Leonhart is right – all you have really is yourself."_

Seifer was sprawled on the bed, seemingly passed out when she arrived. Raijin gave her a tired grin. "Told ya we were good. So what's news?"

She leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor, shaking her head. "NOTHING" _"Nothing I could think of, anyway."_ She twitched her head in the direction of the bed. "SLEEPING?"

The big man nodded. "Right after you left. If you wanna catch some sleep, I think we're done for the night. He was snoring before you came in. **Loudly**."

Fujin smiled, trying not to laugh. She'd never heard Seifer snore. It seemed so unlike him, and **very** uncool. "GO WALK" she told Raijin, picking up one of Seifer's weapon magazines and opening it.

"You sure?" Raijin asked her. "I can stay, no problem."

"GO" she nodded, glancing over at a sleeping Seifer, then back to Raijin. _"He's sleeping. He won't make trouble for me as long as he's like that."_

Raijin shrugged. "Okay. I'll be back later." He got up, stretched, and left. _"This may not be so bad, keeping an eye on the unconscious guy. At least he's not out picking fights with anyone."_ She moved to Raijin's chair and went back to reading.

She woke later to the sound of the door closing. "RAIJIN?" she asked, rubbing her hands over her face. _"I fell asleep on watch? How long have I been out?"_

"Nah, it's me," she heard Seifer's voice and smelled the coffee at the same time. "Thought I'd get the 'thanks for staying' and 'sorry I'm such an ass' coffee and bagel for you." He held the cup and bag out to her with a smile. "You even have time to get to class, if you wanna go today. Raijin's skipping."

Frowning, she took Seifer's offering. _"Where is Raijin? How long has Seifer been up?"_ "TIME? she asked slowly.

"Seven AM," he told her, leaning in the doorframe. "Listen, I'm not real clear on last night. Hell, I'm not real clear on **lots** of nights for the last couple months. Thanks for not letting me do anything stupid." She watched Seifer run his hand through his hair nervously. "Anyway," he sighed," Raijin caught me in the hall last night outside the party and brought me back here. We decided not to wake you up, but we did **lots** of talking in the hall. He pointed out to me what a dick I've been. To **everybody** – including the two of you. And well … you know, it's just … um …"

She decided to save him from his rambling. "FORGIVEN" she told him with a smile over her cup. _"Wow, must've been some talk! Didn't realize Raijin thought that much!"_

"So, we're good?" Seifer managed to look stressed and relieved at the same time. When she nodded, the relief won out. "Cool. Think I oughta talk to anyone else about this?"

Fujin shook her head with an evil grin and took another sip of coffee. _"Fuck 'em. They don't really care about or care to know us anyway, so who cares? Why apologize to them?"_


	13. Loyalties

Sorry this took so long. Had to replay part of the game to get this right, and even so I had to rewrite the fight waaayyy too many times. And then chop most of it out because it sucked.

Thoughts are _"quoted italics"_

GF speech is _**"bold quoted italics"**_

Everything else is as it is.

I own the story, but not the characters or locations. I also own an overweight, spoiled housecat (wait, maybe I have that backwards. The cat owns me...) and an old VW Jetta, which is all you'd get if you sued me. Besides, I'm hardly making money at this (the proof is the car, trust me!).

* * *

** Loyalties**

Finding Seifer a week ago had been an eye-opener for Fujin and Raijin. Now, they were helping him and the Sorceress unite the people under one ruler. _"If only they believed it really is for their own good, this would be so much easier!"_ But first they had to find Ellone, who could help the Sorceress go back in time and fix the things that went wrong and led to a world that needed this many mercenaries and armies. Their first lead was Balamb, where Fujin had been left in charge with Raijin as her second-in-command. The people didn't want them there, let alone the Galbadian soldiers that were with them. But in the long term, no one would remember anyway. _"Just the means to a good end, if we can tough it out until then…"_

As she was going up the stairs, the hotel doors opened and Raijin charged in, slightly out of breath. "Fuj … Commander, we got problems!"

She sighed wearily and turned, expecting another report on how the people were resisting. _"We need a diplomat, dammit! Raijin and I can't make these people understand. Of course, when they keep catching him sleeping …"_ She locked gazes with the big man on the floor below. "REPORT" she demanded.

"I was patrolling, ya know, the docks, the entrance, and I stopped by the train, just for a minute. Oh, yeah, no clues yet on Ellone. But anyway, yeah, Squall's here. With help. And pissed."

With a deep breath, Fujin asked Pandora to gently shove Raijin back outside. "HANDLE" she ordered as the wind pushed him outside. She ignored his comments about waking the dog, knowing he was trying to save some face with the guards stationed at the entrance. Hearing fighting break out, Fujin descended to the lobby and waited.

The fight was brief, and Fujin was surprised when Squall came in with Zell and a woman she'd never seen before. **_"Another sorceress!"_** There was surprise in Pandora's voice.

_"Well, that explains a lot,"_ Fujin thought. "RAIJIN … DEFEATED …?" she asked Squall.

"That's right, baby," Zell answered before Squall could even open his mouth. "Now, where's Seifer and the Sorceress? You're all goin' DOWN!"

Spotting Raijin sneaking in behind the three warriors she faced, Fujin sighed lightly and sent a Cura his direction. He stood taller and flashed her a grateful smile. Then Squall spoke up, voice calm.

"Zell, calm down." The martial artist took a step back and opened his mouth, but Squall cut him off. "Fujin, looks like you're on your own. Still willing to fight?"

_"Surrender? To this misguided fool?"_ "RAGE!"

Raijin's bellowing laugh made the other three jump in surprise. "She's not alone."

"Who's there?" Zell demanded, jaw dropping at the sight of the dark man moving to stand by Fujin.

Raijin flexed his arms. "Major comeback, ya know! Actually, I feel a lot betta, ya know. Invincible!" He flexed again to show off and assumed a fighting stance, nodding at Fujin as she unstrapped her shuriken from her belt.

_"These idiots are going to ruin everything!"_ Fujin snarled as the woman struck first with her crossbow. Fujin threw an Aero, tumbling the other three around like leaves in a whirlwind. As they regained their balance, she called for Pandora's assistance. _"Just a boost on the spells. Don't want to play all the cards yet."_ She closed her eye for a moment, reveling in the power from the GF, then she heard Raijin grunt and opened her eye in time to see Zell step back with a triumphant grin.

She retaliated with her shuriken, then winced as the woman struck her again. "RAGE!" she snarled, her grip on her temper slipping as she threw the shuriken at the woman. Not inflicting the damage she'd hoped for, Fujin readied another Aero and was channeling some of the GF's energy into it when she felt the first mental 'tug'. _"Pan, what's wrong?"_

_**"Pulled,"**_ she heard the GF straining. **_"Gunblade – Stop him!"_**

The emptiness that followed nearly brought Fujin to her knees. She saw Raijin strike Squall, but not before he'd stolen Pandora. Screaming her anguish, she loosed the spell and watched her enemies be tossed around the room again. Without the GF's boost, however, the regained their footing quickly.

Raijin attacked Squall and left him twitching on the floor, but the woman threw some type of potion and returned him to battle-ready. Fujin tried attacking the woman, but Squall unleashed Shiva and was immediately followed by Diablos from Zell. This gave the woman time to throw a protect spell on herself, freeing the two men to continue assaulting Fujin and Raijin with the GFs they had in readiness.

Despite their best efforts, Fujin and Raijin couldn't withstand the continued attacks from GFs and had to admit defeat. As a final blow, Raijin was able to take out the martial artist before the Sorceress teleported them away from the fight. Now, they knelt on the floor in exhaustion before Seifer, eyes on the floor as he stood there, saying nothing to either of them. It would have been easier if he'd shown some sign of anger or disappointment – then they would know what he was thinking.

Raijin finally broke the silence. "Seifer … I … we dunno what happened, ya know? We should've beat them! They should have been spots on the floor, ya know …"

Seifer sighed and chuckled. "S'alright. Didn't know they had their own sorceress to fight for. Just means we gotta take a step back and make a new plan." Squatting down in front of Fujin, Seifer put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, Fuj?" he asked quietly.

She nodded sharply and looked up to meet his gaze. "PANDORA GONE" Fujin forced the words out, still not wanting to believe them. The statement refueled her anger at Squall. Clenching her teeth, she hung her head and closed her eye as the loss washed through her again.

"We'll get her back, Fuj." Raijin's voice was determined. "Squall stole her, she won't work for him, ya know?"

She looked up at her friends and saw Seifer's nod. "That we will, Fuj." She was glad to see the wolfish grin back on his face. That grin meant a good plan forming, and she couldn't help but smile weakly back.


	14. Nightmares

Sorry this is so long in coming! Nobody wanted to play fair and go along with my ideas, so the whole things been rewritten and scrapped about twenty times! 

Thanks for the reviews, and I would say "enjoy", but this chapter's pretty ugly. But there's a reason for (almost) everything I write, hopefully the next few will be easier. And longer.

Oh, yeah, I don't own anything but the story. The characters are not mine. (much as I might wish sometimes) So unless you want my cat, it's not worth suing me over…

* * *

**Nightmares**

_Struggling, gasping for air, there was not enough strength in Fujin's hands to break the blonde's stranglehold. She tried screaming "NO!" but all that came out was a pathetic croaking sound. His blue eyes held no sign of the mercy she knew he had in him. "Sorry, baby," he growled as darkness narrowed her vision. "Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do…"_

…

Fujin sat up with a yell, heart pounding in fear. She looked around the room panicked, then sighed in relief that she was alone. _"Dammit! Hate this shit!"_ She turned on the light and rubbed her face. _"Well, wide awake now. Might as well run."_

Pulling on sweats, Fujin tried to remember when the dream started. The last few months similar dreams had woken her up at least once a week. When sleep evaded her, Fujin had taken up running to exhaust herself back to sleep. It allowed her time to think without Seifer or Raijin.

Seifer was a concern right now. The Sorceress wasn't as benevolent as she'd first seemed, and her 'knight' couldn't see anything but her power. Fujin knew that Seifer had wanted power for a long time, but she'd also thought he wanted admiration and respect. _"Now he's got people fearing him instead,"_ she thought bitterly as she ran. _"This has to stop, but how?"_

The dark sleeping town was a perfect course – no people, no disturbances. Not that anyone would have stopped her. They all knew the petite, silver-haired woman had a temper to rival a T-Rex and was maybe, just maybe, as lethal. No one had tested that part of the theory.

Approaching the building where she had started, she saw lights coming on. _"Must be almost breakfast time. Shower first. I'll talk with Raijin over food and see if he has any thoughts on Seifer."_

After a quick shower, Fujin dressed and waited for Raijin. Breakfast with him every morning was a comforting routine when everything else was crazy. She liked things to be predictable with moments of chaos, not the other way around. She was pulling her eye patch on when she heard a knock on the door. A quick glance at the clock _"Raijin's early?"_ and she answered the door to find Seifer standing there.

"We need to talk," he stated, brushing past her into the room. He waited until she closed the door, and then locked eyes with her. His voice cold and bitter, he asked her quietly, "What is your problem?"

She tried to look puzzled, pretending she didn't know what he meant. "SLEEP. NOT." She volunteered, hoping this weak excuse would suffice.

"Bullshit." The blonde knight hadn't moved, hadn't even looked away. Fujin wasn't sure if he'd even blinked. "It's more than that. You doubt me, you doubt **Her**. Why? Dammit, Fujin! I brought you with me to **share** this! **NOT** sabotage it!"

Fujin let her gaze drift to the window and sighed, shaking her head slightly. _"I wasn't ready to do this."_ Looking back at Seifer's face, she could not meet his stare. "NOT SHARE" She looked at her boots, then back up to finally meet his eyes. "SERVE"_ "Sad state of affairs for friends."_

"Only because you're not smart enough to **grab** the power." The sneer on his face matched his voice.

"AGAIN?" Fujin's hands clenched themselves in to fists as she gave Seifer a chance to change his words.

"I **know** you heard me. You're either not **smart** enough or not **brave** enough. Either way, you lose. If you're not gonna **take** what's yours …"

Her right fist swung out and backhanded him. Seifer had never been like this to **her** before, and Fujin wasn't sure if she was more mad or hurt. She gave in partially to the rage boiling inside her. "KNIGHT? **HA!**" she yelled, stepping right up to him. "CHILD … SPOILED … FOOL … BLIND!" There was much more she wanted to say, but a couple things happened simultaneously to interrupt her rant.

A quick knock on the door as it opened, and Raijin entered in time to see Seifer strike Fujin across the face. "The Hell's going on!" Raijin demanded, stunned.

Seifer looked at his hand like it had betrayed him. When he looked up, his eyes looked clearer. "Fuj, I …" But Raijin had stepped between the two.

"Seifer!" The big man shoved the other away from his cousin and into the wall. "The **Hell's** wrong with you!"

Looking from his hand to Raijin then back, Seifer didn't speak.

"We're done, okay? This is **way** over the top, ya know?" Fujin set her hand on the back of Raijin's shoulder. "No, Fuj, this is the line."

"AGREED" Her voice was so quiet Raijin had to strain to hear her. "LET'S GO" She walked around the room, avoiding Seifer and picking up a few things to put into a bag. As the left the room, Fujin looked back at Seifer. _"Why isn't he saying something? Hyne, help him find a way out. We tried, but we can't do it. We're just not strong enough."_ She almost waved to him, then changed her mind before her hand did more than twitch. _"No, no blunting this blade. Maybe the sharp edge will cut through to him."_


	15. What Now?

Sorry this one's so short. The next couple chapters are probably going to move pretty slowly. Bear with me please?

I don't own the characters or the locations. Square does.

* * *

**What Now?**

Fisherman's Horizon was dull and left too much time to think – about everything. The world was going to hell, and Raijin was the only person Fujin could count on. _"Kind of like when we were kids – my great protector."_ Fujin allowed herself a small smile. She didn't have many memories of her childhood, so the few she had were precious.

Raijin was fishing, and Fujin watched him while wondering what he was thinking. They hadn't discussed anything that led to them being here. But it had been two weeks, long enough to not be quite so emotional. She hoped. "TALK?" Fujin stepped down to the ledge Raijin was sitting on.

"Yeah, sure." He hadn't looked up, just twitched his head to the side for her to sit. She sat down, booted feet hanging over the edge, and tried not to fidget. Sensing her agitation, he snuck a look out of the corner of his eye and put aside his pole. "S'up? You're being to serious, ya know?"

She smiled weakly, looking up to stare across the ocean. _"Sorry, Rai. This is serious stuff."_ "SEIFER"

"What about him?" Raijin's voice was tight, controlled. "We don't need him."

"AFFIRMATIVE" _"But he needs us."_

"So …" There was a long pause as Raijin pulled in his line and fiddled with the lure. "You ain't thinking of going back, are ya? Cause, well … I mean … ya know?" He left off stammering and looked at Fujin.

She thought for a long moment, and then took a deep breath. "UNKNOWN" She lay back on the boards they were seated on, hands clasped behind her head, and closed her eyes. She could tell Raijin was puzzled, so she elaborated. "SEIFER … PUPPET"

"Um, Fuj?" There was another long silence while the big man ordered his thoughts. "I don't know about that. He's pretty strong, ya know? I don't think she made him … um …"

Sitting up, Fujin pushed her silver hair out of her face. She looked at her cousin, at the distress so clear on his face. He turned away from her gaze, clenching and unclenching his hands. An uncharacteristic pang of compassion and Fujin's hands were covering Raijin's. "STRONG. NOT ENOUGH" She hoped he understood since she couldn't force enough words out to explain better.

"Yeah, I know." He hung his head. "But it's Seifer. I mean, … Ah, hell!" Pulling his hands away, Raijin started packing up his tackle box. He chuckled quietly as he closed the lid, confusing Fujin. "Don't think Seifer would appreciate you making excuses for him, ya know?" He smiled crookedly, sadly.

"NEGATIVE" she scowled back. "EXCUSES? TCH!" _"Not for Seifer. Or anyone else. Just wish I knew what was going on in his head. Can't be pretty."_ Getting to her feet, Fujin dusted off her pants, then stood and stared across the water again. _"Do I go back? Should I go back? I mean, we really are all he has …"_

"Hey, Fuj?" Raijin interrupted her mental debate. "For what it's worth, I don't think he meant to do that to ya. But what if he 'doesn't mean to' do something again?" He picked up his box and pole. "While you're thinking, you up for dinner? I'm kinda hungry, ya know?"

Trying to look stern, Fujin forced her eyebrows together and pulled her mouth tight. Glaring up at him thru her bangs, she felt her lips twitching into a smile. She gave in and smiled, wrinkling her nose. "NO FISH"


	16. Abandoning Pride

Ok, rewrote this because it sucked! I like this version much better! 

Standard stuff, I own nothing but the plot. Oh, and the cat, old VW, and the hippie husband.

_(Who can be rented for chocolate, by the way, but it's gotta be **good** chocolate. LOL)_

"Italics" are thoughts 

"_**Bold Italics"** **are GF speech**_

Regular type is what it is

**Abandoning Pride**

"You sure about this, Fuj?"

The mismatched pair stood at Galbadia Garden's entrance. Sorceress Edea had claimed it as her base, and pulled her troops together under Seifer's leadership. Fujin knew that she and Raijin were the only ones who could bring Seifer back to himself. After many arguments, she finally convinced Raijin that this was not a bad decision. Now, however …

With a firm nod of her head, Fujin squashed her doubts under her loyalty to Seifer. "AFFIRMATIVE" She looked over at Raijin and flashed a nervous smile. Silver hair blew into her face as Fujin squared her shoulders, drawing strength from her companion. Pusher her hair back with a growl, Fujin entered the Garden and stopped at the sight of the beast in the center of the lobby.

"Woah. Never saw one of those before, ya know?" Then Raijin looked around. "Thought this place would look more like Balamb, ya know? Where do you think Seifer is?"

Fujin was still staring at the three-headed beast. _"What are you? I know you're more than a regular monster."_

She jumped at the deep growling voice in her head. It sounded amused, like the way cats are amused by mice. **_"What do you think I am, human? I am power beyond imagining, but first you have to defeat me. Do you think you can?"_** One of the heads turned to lock eyes with Fujin.

The strong pull of the power in the voice told her this was a GF. It took great effort for Fujin to tear her gaze away and try to keep her thoughts casual. _"Maybe later. Too much to do right now."_ She turned to walk around the outer edge of the lobby as the GF laughed. Ignoring the goosebumps she got from that laugh, she turned to Raijin. "SEIFER?"

The big man shrugged. "Dunno. Quad maybe? Auditorium?" He moved to intercept a soldier moving towards the hall on the left. "Hey, where can we find Seifer, ya know?"

"Quad. That way." The soldier gestured to one of the other hallways, then continued on his way.

…

Seifer was laying out plans for the solders under his command. Staying in the back to avoid being seen, Fujin was able to figure out why Seifer never made SeeD. _"This is his element – planning, giving orders – bet if they'd offered him leadership he would've made it."_

Raijin leaned over and whispered, "What'cha thinkin'?"

"IMPRESSIVE" She moved to the hallway, motioning for Raijin to follow. When they were out of earshot, she stopped. "DIFFICULT"

Raijin nodded. "Looks like he got what he wanted, ya know? So, we volunteering for this army?" His unwillingness to do so was clear in his dark eyes.

"NEGATIVE. NOT SORCERESS. SEIFER" Sucking in a deep breath, Fujin spun on her heel and went back to the Quad to wait.

It didn't take long for Seifer to spot them, now that they weren't trying to hide. His lips twitched – almost smiled- then he narrowed his eyes and turned back to his maps. Clearly he was pretending they were not there. A half hour later, the meeting wrapped up. After all the soldiers had left, he turned to Fujin and Raijin, eyes and voice cold as ice. "Why are **you** here?"

"TALK" Fujin stepped in front of Raijin and looked up at the blonde. She met his gaze with a mask of arrogance. "YOU. REQUIRE"

"And why would I 'require' a couple of deserters?" Seifer folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the table. "Well? That the best you got?"

Feeling Raijin's hand on her shoulder, Fujin looked over and nodded. _"Maybe he can talk this through more clearly than I can. I sure hope so."_

"We're not deserters, Seifer. You know that." Raijin's voice was quiet, hard to read. "Just had to think, ya know? And we figured out we'd like to be a Posse again, ya know?"

Again Seifer started to smile, before regaining control and pulling a scowl back onto his face. "I don't know about that." He grabbed his trenchcoat off the back of a chair. As he left the room, Fujin thought she heard him say, "Not yet, anyways."


	17. Traitor

Okay, I re-wrote the last chapter. I was tired of it looking like something I put up just for the sake of putting something up. If you haven't read it, please do? This chapter didn't go anything like I'd planned, but the Posse has their own ideas of how things should work

Standard disclaimer – I own an old VW, a spoiled cat, two spoiled dogs, and the plot. All characters and locations belong to Square. (Damn it!)

**Traitor**

After the chaos of getting Galbadia Garden prepped for mobility, the hunt for signs of Balamb Garden began. Seifer seemed to be more his old self, and he seemed to have things worked out with Raijin. Fujin, however, he still barely spoke to. So she was surprised to find the blonde knight waiting on her after her workout one morning.

He was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest, next to the bench where her bag was. Stripping off her gloves, Fujin raised her eyebrows and nodded at Seifer without saying a word. _"Wonder what he needs counted now?"_ she thought bitterly. She was tired of being the errand bitch, tired of inventories, and would have left if Seifer wasn't still here. Grabbing her bag, she headed for the door, stopping when he spoke.

"Kazeno, wait." When she didn't turn, he spoke one more word, his tone commanding. "Talk."

She looked over her shoulder at him, eye narrowed. "ABOUT?" she snarled, still not turning.

"You." His voice was flat, but it was the flat that came right before he got dangerous. She turned slowly as he pushed himself away from the wall. "You're not here to help the Sorceress, we both know that. Raijin said it's something about honor. Don't need your fucking honor, Kazeno. I need to know why the hell you're here?"

The silence was long and heavy as Fujin tried to choose the right words. She dismissed honor, loyalty, and debt the first thoughts in her mind. _"Because you need me to be here, even if you don't know it. Because I need to be here. Where else can I be? Not that you'll believe me anyway."_ "NECESSARY"

He quickly crossed the distance between them, anger charging the air. "For **what**?" he growled, his voice shifted to deadly. "Or should I ask for **who**? Leonhart sent you here to stop me, didn't he?" He grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her in so he could get nose-to-nose. "You fucking think you can?"

Nerves screaming to run, Fujin shoved her panic down and brought her hand up to dig into his collarbone. Yanking down as hard as she could, Fujin was able to break his grip and step out of arm's reach. "NOT!" she spat, bringing her fists up and shifting her weight. The dark look on the blonde's face sent her a couple steps further back, never breaking eye contact with him. His eyes had a strange light to them, and she realized he wasn't in control of himself. "INSANE" she whispered.

"So, that's how it's gonna be, huh?" He smiled coldly and dropped into a crouch. "Well, if I've lost it, then you better fucking run." Snarling, he sprung at her.

For a split second, Fujin actually **considered** running. But if whatever had hold of Seifer wanted a fight, she wasn't going to show it a**ny** fear. She sidestepped the attack and shot her arm out, connecting with the back of his neck without enough force to do any real damage. _"Damn! Should've just ducked him!"_

Seifer whirled on her, a stranger's eyes flashing dangerously through his. He smiled coldly as Fujin's breath hitched in her throat. "What's wrong, change of heart?" his tone mocking her. "Or just scared shitless?"

Control and reason were instantly burned away by Fujin's pride and temper. "BASTARD!" she yelled. "RAGE!" and launched into a series of moves that should have put him down. Would have, if he'd been himself. Most of her attack seemed to have little effect, except for bringing about retaliation. Fujin was pleased when she finally landed a good solid side kick to his stomach, but Seifer grabbed her calf faster than she could pull back.

"Now what'cha gonna do?" he smirked while she shuffled her other foot for balance.

Fujin felt pain burn through her knee and hip as her leg was twisted into an unnatural angle. She gritted her teeth and glared, refusing to give in. A quick shove against her foot slammed her to her back, bouncing her skull **hard** off the floor.

Head pounding, Fujin felt her arms being trapped against her sides under the barrier that was also against her ribs. She opened her eye and looked through the silver hair across her face at Seifer, straddling her waist. He placed a hand to either side of her head and leaned in closer. "Looks like you lose, traitor," he growled.

Fujin glared at Seifer, gritted her teeth, and slammed her forehead into his face as hard as she could. He yelled and grabbed his left eye, unbalanced enough for her to buck loose. She shoved him away and stood slowly, not surprised that her knee didn't want to support her.

Seifer had his back to her, face cradled in his hands and shoulders shaking noiselessly. Fujin **almost** felt guilty, but squashed it under cold hatred. She watched him for a few moments before realizing that something in the room had changed. "ALMASY?" she asked slowly, still suspicious of anything he would do.

"Fu?" She saw the blood on his hands as he turned, still sitting with one hand over the lower part of his face. "The **hell** happened?" He was laughing, shock or denial and she couldn't tell which from where she was. Seifer looked up at her, nose bleeding, and one eye swelling shut already. "What the fuck…" his voice trailed off as he looked her over. After a long moment's silence, he looked away. "Not a nightmare, huh?" he said in a small voice.

Shaking her head slowly, Fujin hobbled to a bench and sat down. "NEGATIVE"

Neither of them moved, both breathing and thinking hard. Finally, Seifer spoke.

"You know I wouldn't do this to you, right? I mean … ah hell! I don't know what's going on anymore Fu. I would **swear** it wasn't you!" He turned slowly, looking very unsure of himself. "I almost killed you. Why!" Seifer stormed out of the gym, leaving Fujin to wonder what the hell was in his head.


	18. Anger and Orders

Sorry this one's so short, but it seemed like a good stopping point. The next one will be longer – promise!

Standard stuff – I don't own the characters or the locations. I only own the story itself, and it's not paying my bills despite being much longer than I intended. Thanks for reading, and suggestions are welcome for future stuff.

**Anger and Orders**

Things were still strained with the Posse when Balamb Garden was finally sighted. They hadn't discussed what happened, and Fujin would rather have forgotten completely. Even finding out that Seifer was **convinced** she'd been some other guy didn't make it any easier to look at him. She was afraid … no, **concerned **she corrected herself … that it might happen again. Seifer seemed to think that as well.

He'd kept contact between the two of them minimal, even making a point of addressing her by her first name like he was trying to keep it in his memory. But conversations were stiff, Seifer seemed to be judging every word he spoke when they talked. This conversation in particular, but this time it was a request hidden as orders. Knowing the reason didn't make Fujin accept it without argument. _"We belong in that fight! Seifer knows that!"_

Seifer had 'asked' them to stay clear of the battle. "In case something happens, I need you two to get the Sorceress out of here." His eyes were pleading, but his voice was calm. "Shit's gonna get nuts, and I **trust** you two to** do **this. If SeeD gets her, I'm done."

"Seifer, ain't nothin' gonna go down like that." Raijin wasn't any happier with these 'orders' than Fujin. "You'll be fine, always are, ya know? But you can't expect us to sit out like cowards." Fujin nodded her agreement.

"Fucking hell!" Seifer stood, knocking his chair over and stalked across the room "Just **once**, I **need** you guys to follow orders!" He ran his hand through his hair. "You **know** I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." His expression was one of rare concern.

Fujin shot Seifer a look of contempt. That he could even **ask** her not to fight was a slap in the face, whatever his reason. She'd do it, but only because it was an order. Nothing said she had to do it willingly or gracefully. She nodded once, sharply, and turned to Raijin. "ORDERS"

…

The crash that threw Galbadia Garden, the smell and sounds of the battle she was ordered away from – these things merely added to Fujin foul mood. When Leonhart came up the stairs with some cowboy and Rinoa in tow, Fujin almost put her fist into the girl's stomach just to send them all crashing back down. She squashed the urge at a look from Raijin and glared at her boots.

Fujin watched the SeeD's leave after exchanging words with Raijin. Glancing up, she met his brown eyes and allowed the corners of her mouth to twitch upwards. "EXCELLENT"

Smiling wide, Raijin nodded. "Course it was. They think I'm stupid, ya know? Not smart enough to lie to 'em. So we let them find the kids that stole the keys and we steal the keys back, ya know?"

"THEN?"

The big man shrugged. "We lock them in the room and Seifer kicks ass, ya know?" He sounded so certain. Fujin wished she could share his optimism. Her gut feeling, however, was that they would not get off that easily.


	19. The Sorceress

Ok, so it's not a whole lot longer than the last chapter. And hopefully this will be the last one I use a time jump in.

(That's what the "…" is, in case you didn't know.)

Anyways, standard stuff – I don't own the characters or the locations, dammit!

_"Italics in quotes" are thoughts_

Everything else is what it looks like.

**The Sorceress**

Seifer was gone. The battle was over, Balamb Garden had taken off, and Seifer had vanished. Fujin wandered Galbadia Garden looking at the carnage. "WASTED" she muttered. _"Our time, their lives – all wasted!"_ She turned and slammed her fist into the wall, the sharp pain a welcome distraction from her dark mood. "ABANDONED" Again the wall took another blow, the pain much sharper the second time.

Raijin came running up from his end of the hall. "Nothing here. Ah, Fuj," he touched the smear of blood on the wall. "Shouldn't get so mad, ya know? We'll finish checking the Garden, then we'll find Seifer, ya know?"

She noticed his smile didn't quite each his eyes. Nodding, Fujin headed down the hall. The only places left were the lobby and the auditorium. She could smell scorched fabric and hair on the balcony. Looking over, the lobby was empty. _"Figures the SeeDs took that thing."_ The auditorium was also empty, except for the unconscious Sorceress. _"Hunh. Wonder why they didn't take her?"_

Looking down at the unconscious woman, Fujin could feel her anger building. She could see how Seifer would refer to her as 'a romantic dream'. Even knowing the Sorceress had to be at least twice her age, she would have guessed the woman to be twenty. But this woman was the reason behind the blonde knight's insanity. "BITCH" she said coldly, shoving the prone woman's hip with her foot.

"Probly shouldn't do that, ya know." Raijin knelt down and felt to see if the Sorceress was breathing. "We're supposed to take care of her." He was amazingly gentle about picking her up. "Where do you think we oughta take her?"

"DON'T CARE" Fujin turned away, heading out the door. Then the woman groaned.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice low and musical. Grey eyes opened to look at Raijin. "I believe I can stand, if you would put me down please young man?" It wasn't so much a request as a polite order, and Raijin complied. She smiled at him and looked around the room, the smile fading when she met Fujin's scowl.

"You look familiar, child," her eyebrows pulled together. "Why? How do I know you?"

Glaring in silent defiance, Fujin left Raijin to explain awkwardly. "We're Seifer's posse. He asked us to stick with you if anything happened, ya know?"

"Seifer?"

"Your knight, ya know?" Eyes flickering from one woman to the other, Raijin fiddled nervously with his staff.

"No," the Sorceress shook her head slowly. "Seifer is not my knight. My knight awaits me in Centra." She looked at the two, finally settling on Fujin. "He trusts you two. You want him back." The last was not a question, but they nodded anyway. "Cid and I **may** be able to help you."

"HOW?" Fujin was puzzled. This did not seem to be the same woman she'd seen before, but there was still something dark about her.

The woman smiled, eyes flashing with mischief. "We trick the soldiers into taking us to Centra. Then we get them to take you to Seifer. Hopefully they won't realize I'm **not** who they think I am."

…

The trip to Centra earned Edea grudging respect from Fujin. By the time they arrived, she realized the Sorceress was almost as much a pawn as Seifer. Unlike him, she was now free to make right on the situations created by her possession. The Sorceress dismissed the soldiers upon their arrival at the correct Centran island. "My guards and I can handle this one person. We'll call you when you're needed."

The pretense for going to Centra was to personally hunt down the man responsible for the destruction of Galbadia Garden. Fujin was therefore quite surprised to find out that there was a man at this run down lighthouse. And one she recognized. "I knew you'd come here, Edea."

Raijin nudged Fujin as the other two people embraced warmly. "Hey, that's Headmaster Cid, ya know? Ya think he's her knight?" The big man blushed when he realized he'd been heard.

"Of course he is." Edea stepped back from Cid. "That's how I found my way back." She smiled at the older man. "Let's go see if we can find Seifer."

Fujin didn't say anything, following the older couple into the ramshackle house to sit at the table. Cid looked confused. "Seifer's missing? What are we doing?"

Standing to pace the small room nervously, Fujin didn't quite understand the explanation. Something about meditating, children and the astral plane. _"Whatever the hell that is? As long as it works I don't care!" _Raijin looked enthralled even though nothing seemed to be happening. She was tempted to bring him around with a swift kick. Knowing more of what was going on did not lessen her concern for her friend. _"Why is everything taking so damn long?"_

Things were quiet for what seemed (to Fujin) like hours before the Sorceress spoke. "Esthar. He's after Lunatic Pandora." She gave a sad smile. "The rest of the children are coming home. Which means you two have to leave if you want to find him before they do."


	20. Lunatic Pandora

I know these keep coming in short, but well, sometimes that's how the muse hits.

I own nothing except my underwear and the plot here, and sometimes I wonder about my underwear. Heh!

**Strange Reunion**

"You guys showed up just in time!" For the first time in far too long, Seifer looked genuinely happy to see them. "Where the hell have you been?"

Raijin looked at Fujin and rolled his eyes. "Shoulda expected that, ya know?"

Fujin just sighed and finished dusting off her pants. "SAFETY" she announced as she straightened up. "SORCERESS" _"How much of his mind did she take?"_ Her thoughts dripped sarcasm.

"Oh, that." Seifer waved dismissively. "Not necessary. Sorry, forgot to tell you."

Drowning her anger in a deep breath, Fujin looked at the building with uncertainty. "PURPOSE?"

The blonde smiled. "We move **this**," pointed at the building, "over** there**." He pointed in the direction of the city in the distance. His smile turned cold. "Then all hell breaks loose and we win. You in?"

After a moment's thought and a glance at Raijin, she nodded. Fujin owed the SeeDs nothing as far as she could tell. Seifer, on the other hand, everything. The fact that Sorceress Edea and Headmaster Cid had **asked** her and Raijin to stick with him was an added, if unnecessary, push. "AFFIRMATIVE" Raijin would follow her lead, albeit somewhat unwillingly.

Lunatic Pandora was the size of a city block. And no one seemed to know quite what to do. They were wandering the halls, trailing Seifer from a distance as he checked the progress of things, not sure what else to do.

"Fuj, I'm still not sure on this. I mean, I know he's being used and all. But how much of this is him? Any of it?" His dark eyes gave away the level of his concern.

"UNCERTAIN" Sliding her hands into her pockets, Fujin again encountered the vial she was carrying. It was some mystery solution, a gift from Edea that Fujin hadn't been able to bring herself to turn down even though it had been offered in pity. _"That woman should save her pity for the weak. But what the hell is **in **this? How is it supposed to help me?"_ She'd been told that she would know when the time was right to drink it. How she was supposed to know was anyone's guess.

At least Raijin had sense enough to back away from her when she narrowed her eye at him. Noticing her hand balled up in her pocket, he could guess the reason. "Fuj, I said I was sorry, ya know. Didn't mean to tell her everything. Just, she was kinda hard to hide stuff from. Like your mom, ya know?"

"AFFIRMATIVE" She ducked her head, closing her eye and hiding behind her hair. The Sorceress had gotten far too much out of both of them, and things were uncomfortable and embarrassing when they'd left for Esthar.

The floor shifted, indicating they were finally in motion. Fujin scowled at the floor, then looked up to meet her cousin's eyes. "BEGINNING" While she'd never admit to fear, a strong feeling of uneasiness was taking hold in her stomach.

They passed a couple of men who seemed to be examining a control panel of some sort. A snide comment from one of them came clearly to her ears. "Why do you think he's so glad **she**'s here? The big guy I understand, but the freak?"

Turning in time to see the man shudder, Fujin walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and swallowed hard. "Um … hi?"

"RAGE" She kicked him in the knee, making him howl in pain. "IDIOT!" She heard Seifer laugh.

"She's here," he walked up behind Fujin and set a hand on her shoulder. "Because she's my second. You got a problem with that, tough shit."

The men nodded quickly, turning back to what they'd been doing. Seifer walked away, the matter settled. Fujin growled low in her throat at the two men, then turned to follow.


	21. Broken

I appreciate all the wonderful reviews! Any suggestions for future chapters (or maybe stories even) will be carefully considered. It just depends on if I can get the characters to do what I want! LOL

Okay, once again, I own nothing worth suing over.  
I just play with these wonderful characters that someone else created.  
Oh, some of the dialogue **has** been lifted straight from the game.  
And some has been cut because it just didn't fit  
."_quoted italics_ are thoughts, everything else is what it is.

* * *

**Broken**

Chaos had been unleashed on Esthar. Fujin had felt slightly ill watching the monsters raining down from the moon. Thankfully, Lunatic Pandora's shields had held through the assault. There had been many unsuccessful attempts by solitary monsters that had strayed behind the rest, enough that everyone had taken to betting on what would try the shields next. "TEN GIL. TORAMA." Fujin was up 120 gil so far.

"Nah." Raijin shook his head. "I'm thinkin' it'll be something different. Fifteen says it'll be Squall." He laughed at the look she shot him "Nothing else has worked, ya know? Except that one imp yesterday."

Alarms blared, cutting off Fujin's response. The screech of metal on metal made them both wince, while the rumble that followed clearly came from close by. "Big noise," Raijin grinned. "Probably them, ya know?"

Sighing her annoyance, she rolled her eye at him. "THEM?" she snapped with a quick shake of her head. "NO. IMPOSSIBLE." Rounding the corner and seeing the metallic dragon head, she unhooked her chakram from her belt and edged cautiously into the room. _"It's a ship!"_

The figure standing at the dragon's side turned, his face pulled into an angry frown.

"Ah!" A wide smile spread across her cousin's face. "It IS Squall, ya know?"

"SHOCK" Fujin raised her eyebrows at the uncharacteristic display of emotion from Leonhart. _"Maybe he can help us get through to Seifer."_ "GOOD. CONVENIENT"

Seeing who was standing in the door of the ship, Raijin couldn't resist pushing the smaller man's buttons to see how far he'd go. "Hand over Rinoa, ya know?" His smile went unnoticed.

"NO!" Leonhart leveled his gunblade at them, eyes flashing dangerously. "I'll never hand over Rinoa And we're taking Ellone!" His voice dropped to a growl as two other people stepped away from the ship. "I won't let you resurrect Adel, either!"

"_That's not my plan, either."_ Glad they were on the same side for once, she flashed him a rare smile. She gathered from his expression and stance that he didn't understand why she smiled. This was confirmed when he took the first strike.

The ensuing fight was harsh. Fujin didn't want to fight them, but there was no time to explain. _"The hell with that idea, then," _she thought grimly as she returned blow for blow. She was sure that at least twice she'd seen each of them dead. She'd seen the blood spilled from chests as her chakram split ribs, along with dented skulls when Raijin smashed each of them to the floor. Every time, they simply got back up and staggered for just a moment before striking back. It was hard to tell if it was potions or spells, and several times it looked like the dog's barking brought them back.

Then the blonde SeeD jumped in and kicked her in the chest. "Sorry, baby." A quick blow to the throat left her gasping, tears in her eye. "Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." A cold smile and hard blow to her stomach followed his words.

Raijin knocked the man aside, but not before her blood ran cold. This was oddly familiar. "RETREAT" Fujin croaked, needing to get away from this so she could think.

"IDIOT!" She kicked Raijin when they stopped. "SILENCE!" He'd botched everything by telling Leonhart they wanted Rinoa. Now their only chance was to try again to talk sense to Seifer.

Encountering the SeeDs once more, she glared at Leonhart. "NOW. NO FIGHT. NEXT TIME." As they walked away, Raijin shouted back to them that they had a surprise coming, so she kicked him again once the door closed.

"Seifer, they're out for blood, ya know? Don'tcha think this is outta hand again, ya know?"

While the two men argued, Fujin pulled the unknown potion out of her pocket. _"She said I'd know when to drink it. Don't know if this is the time, but I may be out of time real soon!"_ Pulling the cap off, she knocked the potion back quickly and coughed from the itch it created in her throat.

The SeeDs burst in, demanding Ellone back. Raijin stepped up to block them from going straight after Seifer.

"RAIJIN, STOP!" Her voice didn't sound right as she yelled, so she cleared her throat and shook her head slowly, keeping eye contact with him. _"It's time to do or die."_

Seifer gave her a puzzled look. "What's up?"

Nodding once, Raijin turned to the blonde knight. "We've had enough, ya know…"

Watching Seifer's eyes narrow, she shoved the girl towards the SeeDs and out of immediate striking range. "GO" The girl only hesitated a moment before quickly crossing the room, then leaving.

She let the two men argue for a minute, before stepping in when Seifer laid a hand on Hyperion's grip. "I thought we were a posse."

"POSSE…" She coughed, then nodded. "We are. We always will be." Fujin cleared her throat before continuing. "Whatever it takes to fulfill **your** dream, we're willing to do. But …" Her voice was low and gravelly from years of disuse. "You're being manipulated, Seifer. You've lost yourself and your dream." The itch in her throat faded, replaced by a tightness from anger and despair. "We want the old you back!" She pleaded, locking eyes with him. His expression didn't change, and she dropped her gaze to the floor. "Since we can't get through to you, all we have to rely on is Squall. It's sad …" Looking back up, she asked him one last question. "Are you still gonna keep goin'?"

He thought for an all-too-brief moment, then shrugged and saluted them. "Raijin, Fujin! It's been fun!"

"_We failed. I failed. He's gone."_ She dropped her head, despair weighing heavily. "Let's go," she whispered to Raijin. "Can't stay. Not wanted." Seifer's indifference on top of everything else had broken her when nothing else could.


	22. Time Compression

Okay, in case you don't know it yet, I don't own any of these characters or their locations.  
(Dammit! I could certainly use a bevy of bishies in uniform to do away with my enemies! )

This chapter is a little odd, but then again, anything involving time travel/compression/rearranging is going to be.  
Bear with me, please? And forgive the creative rearranging of time that's already taken place with this story.  
Kinda hard to make it flow right if you figure it only took what, three days? Sure...

And thanks to **EVERYONE **for reading, and Raven for helping me with the future scenes. (BTW, she also scanned the scene to make sure it was sufficiently confusing. If you're not lost, blame her. evil grins)

* * *

**Time Compression**

Slamming bindly into a wall, she rested her forehead against the cool metal. "COWARD" she growled, slamming an open hand into the wall. "Should've done it myself."

"Done what?"

"Killed him." She turned to Raijin, meeting his shocked expression with a sad smile. "Squall shouldn't be the one to free him from HER." A bitter laugh escaped. "Almasy was right. Told me I'd lose if I wouldn't take what was mine. And here we are ..." Her voice trailed off into harsh coughs that stopped when the room wrenched itself into a spiral and the ceiling bounced off her knees.

**  
..**

**  
...**

_(what?)_

Stretched and twisted, folded around and inside endless gray, Fujin screamed in rage  
and pain until her throat was raw and there was nothing left.

_(waves of cold fear)_

Seifer slammed into the wall, eyes unfocused by the impact.. "Foolish boy." The sorceress growled  
at the dazed knight where she'd tossed him. "Useless child." Reaching for her chakram,  
Fujin's hand passed right through...

_(the hell?)_

... to grab the porch railing when Raijin nearly fell out of the tree. "I'm alright, ya know?  
Grabbed the wrong board. Done soon, ya know?" The pile of wood on the ground was all that  
remained of the treehouse. It was amazing how focused he was...

_(someone help me!)_

... even when he was coughing up blood. "I'm sorry. I ..." Pushing silver hair out of her face,  
she laid one hand against his shoulder. She couldn't find the spells that should have been in her head.  
"I don't..."

Seifer laughed and coughed, blood pouring from his side to pool on the ground.  
"You go. I'm going to die, and you've got to get away." Gritting his teeth against the pain,  
he didn't notice the shadow that crossed his face.  
But she did, and looked up to a child standing there.  
"Hey mister!" the girl said brightly, and Fujin allowed herself a glimmer of hope that...

_(Hyne, make it go away!)_

... slid down the wall after her. "Raijin?" She tried to reach out to him for help,  
but the world was warping badly in time with the roaring in her ears.

"Fuj?" His voice was rough, cracking. "What's goin' on, ya know?"

"UNKNOWN" she gasped, the air suddenly heavier than the floor.  
Watching in morbid fascination, they both saw the hole where the hallway turned itself inside-out with ...

_(Make it **STOP!**)_

... the smell of candle wax and eggs. Raijin singing loudly as Seifer laughed.  
One by one, the candles fell over in slow motion. "WAX OMELETTE?"  
One eyebrow arched at the food that was almost breakfast.

Shrugging, he grinned sheepishly. "Seemed like a good idea, ya know?"

With a shake of her head, Fujin stood and turned away, headed after ...

_(Thought dead was supposed to be quiet?)_

... more life absorbed from Rinoa. The SeeDs wouldn't touch the Sorceress,  
their fear for the girl flavoring the air. When Leonhart finally swung,  
his opponent just laughed coldly and drew again.

Fujin watched Instructor Trepe draw back and ...

_(weak laughter crossed pale lips)_

... fought not to shudder as she put the bottle back in the pack. "WOAH!" she coughed. "Wrong bottle!"

He burst into laughter after a brief struggle not to. "Shit'll get you drunk fast."  
He seemed amazed she hadn't thrown up or fallen over.

"You DRINK this?" She pulled a face and coughed again. "Gah! It's so harsh!  
Sure it's not just for cleaning wounds?" The acrid taste remained, as well as ...

_(Anybody?)_

... the smell of aftershave drifted in. "Daddy!" She tackled him as he walked through the door. Somehow  
he always seemed to know what days she was going to jump off the couch at him.  
Today was one of those days; he turned smiling to catch her.  
"You peeked!" she accused, shaking her tiny finger at him.

"Nah. It's magic, Fu." He winked at her and set her on the floor.

"Like when mama knows about the cookies?" she whispered, grinning.

He smiled broadly, pushing up his glasses. "Yep, just like..."

_(**RAGE!**)_

... the hallway wrenched nauseatingly, and the gray shifted to a different flavor.  
Shadows coalesced into a familiar form. "Mama?"

"Are we there yet?" A child tugged Fujin's pants leg. "Will daddy be there?"  
Violet eyes looked at her with hope.

_(Tired. Lost)_

Fujin gave in to the chaos, letting it tear through her mind for the brief moment it took her to collapse.


	23. Aftermath

Okay, again, I own very little here – not the characters, not the locations, just the story.

I know this may seem an odd way to end the story, but I wanted to leave it open.

I have ideas. Yes, you should all run now**.

* * *

**

**Aftermath**

"_Take care of him."_

"_What? Who?"_

"_Seifer. Watch out for him."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_Someone who considers him a lost dear one."_

"_WHY?"_

"_Just keep him safe."_

With the last comment, the vaguely familiar voice faded out. Opening her eye slowly, Fujin shook her head and sat up. She couldn't quite place the voice from her dream. Balamb wasn't exactly what she would consider a 'safe' place at the moment. For some reason, however, that was where they'd woken up at. "Why here, want him safe?" she muttered and coughed.

Three days they'd been in this town, and no one seemed to notice. Granted, they kept contact with the locals minimal, sending Raijin in for anything they needed.. It still seemed odd to her, however. She still expected to be arrested at any point, starting with vagrancy charges since they were staying down by the docks, sheltered in an unused building that everyone passed to fish.

Finding the coffee that was still slightly warm, she smiled and snapped the lid off. Seifer and Raijin were both gone, allowing her some time alone. _"Probably fishing,"_ she mused, stretching slowly. _"Which means fish for dinner. Again. Egh." _If the potion hadn't worn off she could protest better. It had mostly worn off their first day in Balamb, though. She had discovered that she could manage slightly more 'normal' sounding speech if she kept her voice low. Seifer made one comment about her trying to sound sexy, and she knew he still had the bruise.

After downing the rest of her coffee, Fujin pushed her hair into a semblance of order and pulled on her boots. Balamb was getting chilly enough that they'd have to make permanent living arrangements soon or move. Looking around the room, she frowned. There probably wasn't much time before whatever spell the town's residents were under faded. Pulling on her jacket, she moved towards the door.

"_What do you do when you've survived the end of the world,"_ she wondered, squinting at the bright sky. _"And it's not as bad as you expected?"_ Spotting the guys at the far end of the docks, she headed that direction.

"No, no, Seifer. The fish will come when they're ready, ya know? Not just because you're ready." Raijin was laughing, and Seifer was scowling at the bobber.

"Luck?" She smiled faintly at the growl from the blonde. It was puzzling why he decided to learn how to fish. Fujin didn't fish – didn't even really like fish – and failed to see the attraction. But it gave them something to do and free food besides.

Raijin grinned widely. "Think he's about ready to jump in and strangle the fish, ya know?" Another growl made the big man laugh. "No patience, ya know?" He was thoroughly enjoying being the best at something out of all three of them.

"Fish STUPID" she coughed.

"My thoughs exactly. Raijin catches 'em easy 'cause they relate to him." Seifer was still staring at the line, willing it to move. Which, of course, it stubbornly resisted.

Nothing was bothering Raijin, however. "Jealous, ya know? Hate losing, especially to me, ya know?" He had a point. Seifer still didn't take humiliation well, in any form.

Lowering herself to the sun-warmed wood, Fujin sighed and listened to the bickering.


End file.
